His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, inaugurated yesterday (April 3) Total’s first edition of its ‘Alreyada, Connecting Young Leaders’ seminar to be held till 6 April 2013 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Held under the patronage of his Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, the event was also attended by Total’s officials including Xavier Préel, Total’s Vice President General Affairs - Middle East Division, Jean-Luc Guiziou, President of Total UAE and Mr. Sultan Hajji, Vice President Institutional Development – Total UAE; participants and industry experts.

Addressing the young leaders and officials at the opening ceremony, His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan said, “Our country knows and appreciates the value of Alreyada. Our leaders have always recognized that they are leading people whose talents are invaluable. The major theme of this first ‘Alreyada, Connecting Young Leaders Seminar’ connects very well with the national priorities in our region.”

Applauding Total’s initiative in shaping tomorrow’s leaders, he added, “Total began operating in this region thirty-two years before we became a nation. The program that it has devised for your seminar is consistent with its record of responsibility in at least three ways. First, Total cares about your intellect and abilities—your education. Second, Total knows how intimately tied its operations are to the environment. Third, Total recognizes that dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration across national borders are essential for successful operations in the twenty-first century. Coursing through those three elements of Total’s sense of responsibility is a deep respect for, recalling the words of Sheikh Zayed, “the human spirit.”

The Alreyada seminar brings together around 50 undergraduate students and 10 young professionals from across the Middle East to familiarize them with the challenges faced by the energy industry in the region and to discuss HR, leadership, partnership and sustainable development programs on local and global levels. Participants of the seminar comprise male and female young leaders from the Middle East including the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

Experts from Total and regional leaders from business, science, research and the community will address major energy issues and challenges through presentations and round table discussions. In smaller workshops, students and young professionals, who will act as their mentors, will have the opportunity to actively contribute by sharing ideas, expressing their views and asking questions about the main topics of the seminar.

Also speaking at the event, Xavier Préel said, “Total, because it recognizes the importance of having skilled and educated people, had already launched various education initiatives both at the Corporate Level and locally in each of the countries where we work.”

“But never ever had we designed such an initiative like Alreyada the aim of which is to gather future Young Leaders from the Middle East and to invite speakers from the Middle East. This Alreyada is for the Middle East Young Leaders who will be addressed by Middle East Experts. Alreyada is a Middle East initiative, by the Middle East, and for the Middle East, and Total is proud to make it happen” he concluded.

Jean-Luc Guiziou added, “Total UAE is proud and privileged to host in Abu Dhabi the first edition of Alreyada, Connecting Young Leaders. Beyond existing programs like Total ABK Academy in Abu Dhabi, this unique regional initiative from Total takes one step further our commitment to developing the young nationals across the Middle East.”

Highlighting the objective of the Alreyada initiative, Sultan Al-Hajji elaborated, “Alreyada is all about having innovative ideas from the young leaders, and blending and refining them by the experts.”

The program features keynote speeches from industry leaders and experts including Ali Al Jarwan, CEO of ADMA-OPCO; Nader Sultan, former CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Company and Dr. Abdullah Sultan, Director of Center for Petroleum and Minerals at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia.

The crucial question to be addressed during the seminar is ‘How to foster long-lasting partnerships’ and the results will be presented by the participants to regional experts as well as senior management of Total at the end of the seminar.

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